Russellville Elementary School has been named a U.S. News best elementary school by U.S. News & World Report.

The rankings include more than 79,000 public elementary schools across the country. Schools are ranked at the state and district level, with best charter schools and best magnet schools ranked as stand-alone categories.

RES was also ranked number 204 in Alabama out of 1,142 schools.

“This recognition does not come as a surprise to me, but it is confirmation that what we are doing is remarkable,” explained RES principal Tiffany Warhurst. “This is such a testament to the hard work and dedication that our teachers and students put forth each and every day. We will continue to remain committed to providing a nurturing environment that fosters academic excellence while also focusing on character development. I am extremely proud of our faculty, staff and students.”

The methodology focuses on state assessments of students who were proficient or above proficient in mathematics and reading and language arts, while accounting for student backgrounds, achievement in core subjects and how well schools are educating their students. Student-teacher ratios are applied to break ties in the overall score.

The 2024 Best Elementary Schools rankings are based on publicly available data from the U.S. Department of Education. For district-level rankings, at least two of the top performing schools must rank in the top 75% of the overall elementary rankings to qualify for district-level recognition.

“The 2024 Best Elementary Schools rankings offer a way for parents to get a snapshot of their child’s school and how well it is doing compared with other schools in their community,” explained LaMont Jones, managing editor for education at U.S. News. “In addition, U.S. News provides easily accessible data on student-teacher ratios, district spending and the number of counselors a school makes available to its students.”

Parents, educators and students can see how RES compares to other institutions and how the rankings are calculated on USNews.com.

“This is such an amazing accomplishment for our school system and our community,” said RCS superintendent Dr. Heath Grimes. “I am so proud of the teachers and leaders at RES. They have to be the hardest working teachers in the country. We already know they are hardworking and really amazing and effective. I know this because I see it, and I know this because we are very grounded in the data in RCS.”

“We know this because of the third grade pass rate and our students’ proficiency scores compared to the state, even with a challenging language barrier for approximately fifty percent of RES students,” Grimes continued.

“This recognition, however, is important because it is from a reputable source, and it lets the community know what I already know. It gives the teachers the affirmation that they deserve. And it feels really good for our administrators and teachers to see that they are making a difference and rank so well in our state and country.”